March 24, 2025. By Walter Duy.

Our vision is one of our most important senses, it gives us the ability to do a multitude of things, but most people don’t give a second thought on how to take care of our eyes until we notice something is amiss and have to go see an ophthalmologist. As a fourth-year medical student and the co-chair of Screening Eyes and Education (SEE), a Schweitzer project aimed to provide eye health screenings to individuals in the Winston-Salem area, I’ve broached this subject with many ophthalmologists, and here’s what they wished were more common knowledge about taking care of our eyes.

• Floaters are (mostly) normal: As we age, the jelly in the back of our eyes, the vitreous, starts changing consistency and becomes more liquid. Parts of the vitreous then break off and float around, leading to the floaters we see occasionally. The good news is that a few floaters in our vision is mostly normal, and our brains learn to tune them out over time, and sometimes we only see floaters when we’re looking at a bright blue sky. However, a sudden occurrence of hundreds or thousands of floaters could be a sign of retinal detachment, a medical emergency where the back layer of our eye responsible for our vision peels off and can threaten vision.
• Eye protection is key: just as we need sunscreen to protect our skin when we’re out during sunny days, we also need to wear sunglasses to protect our eyes. Prolonged direct sun exposure to the eyes can accelerate the development of cataracts, which can reduce vision and cause discoloration and glare. Additionally, eye protection is crucial in keeping eyes safe when mowing a lawn, doing construction work (welding, electrical work), working with chemicals, and playing sports (including using firearms). Foreign objects lodged in eyes are commonly present at the ophthalmology clinic and using eye protection can reduce this.
• Keep those eyes moisturized: it’s common knowledge to moisturize and keep our skin healthy; likewise, our eyes need occasional moisturization too. Dry eye is one of the most common things seen at the ophthalmology clinic, and it can present with blurry vision and itchy/irritated eyes. Dry eye is also more common as we get older as natural tear production decreases as we age. Using preservative-free artificial tears can keep our eyes lubricated and less irritated.
• Don’t forget to take your contacts out at night: Contact lenses are a wonderful way to correct our vision without the need for glasses. However, many people sleep with their contacts in or don’t change them frequently enough. We should take contacts out before we go to sleep, and replace dailies every day. We should clean our contact lenses daily and only with contact lens solution – water is not an acceptable substitute!  Leaving our contacts in while we sleep can lead to dry eye and scratch our cornea, the windshield of our eye, on which the contact lens sits. Sometimes, we can get an infection of our cornea, called keratitis, due to keeping contact lenses on for a prolonged period. Keratitis does need to be seen and treated by an ophthalmologist. Finally, don’t panic when a contact lens gets dislodged and is hard to remove from your eye – it will not go to the back of your eye or to your brain – our eyes are sealed off past a certain point, and the contact lens won’t get lost.  
• Eyes can be a reflection of our overall health: they say the eyes are the windows to our souls, but more practically, certain systemic conditions can affect the eyes. Hypertension, or high blood pressure, can damage the blood vessels in the retina and cause vision changes/loss. Additionally, hypertension increases the risk of macular degeneration and glaucoma, both of which cause progressive vision loss and currently do not have a cure. Diabetes, or prolonged high blood sugar, can also damage retinal blood vessels and cause vision changes/loss. It can also accelerate cataract formation and increase the risk of glaucoma. Additionally, diets low in vitamin A and omega-3 fatty acids can cause dry eye and reduced nighttime vision. Eating a healthy diet and regular health checkups can help prevent some of these eye diseases.

While these tips are important, they are not a substitute for a yearly eye exam with an ophthalmologist or optometrist.

Walter Duy

2024-25 NC Schweitzer Fellow

Wake Forest School of Medicine, Class of 2025

Content expressed is solely the personal opinion of the author.